Looking for feedback on the battery I built

! looks like it could be a good piece to fix!

ok that chip has been fixed, going to let the board cool down and then I’ll try it again. (I’m really new to re-flowing so I want to share what I did in case I should have done it a different way) I don’t have an SMB station so what I’ve been doing to re-flow or solder is to mask off parts of the board using kapton tap and then slowly heat up the chip using my heat gun. (I think that’s how this one chip was moved… as the solder melted the tape pulled it up) so that’s all I just did was heat it up slowly till the chip settled back down and the let it cool off… not sure if I should have added flux or not but I’m open to advice for more experienced and knowledgeable people.

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Ok tried to run the motor detect and it still does nothing :frowning:… I’ll keep scouring the forum but if anyone has an idea whats going on I’m starting to get desperate lol

@RHill051 Can you let us know which firmware version you flashed to the FOCBOX using ST-Link?

Sure, I flashed the “VESC_default.bin” found here vesc_tool/res/firmwares/410_o_411_o_412 at master · Ackmaniac/vesc_tool · GitHub after trying to figure out what firmware to the tool was trying to flash. Here are my steps. It would be awesome if I just need to flash a different firmware with the ST Link :slight_smile:

@RHill051 Do the following Use ST-Link to downgrade the firmware to 2.18 (Default of FOCBOX) 2.18 Firmware for Hardware Version 4.10, 4.11 & 4.12: https://we.tl/t-c5ypVXS4JG (Enertion one) and use this tool to program it: MAC Version of Enertion’s BLDC tool: https://www.enertionboards.com/new-focbox-speed-controller/focbox-bldc-tool-mac/ Windows Version of Enertion’s BLDC tool: https://www.enertionboards.com/new-focbox-speed-controller/focbox-bldc-tool-win/

Then switch back to the latest firmware using USB flashing.

I have faced this issue several times and only problem is with the ACK version of Firmware when flashed via ST-Link

Let us know if this works for you :slight_smile:

I would also love to assist you via Team Viewer if you face any difficulties

Ok so flashing with ST Link is done. Connected to BLDC Tool and was able to read firmware no problem. I’m not sure exactly how to update the firmware from here though. (sorry I don’t have team viewer, I’ve used google hangouts to share desktop in the past)image

@RHill051 Now you have 2 options You can configure it using BLDC tool and give your setup a go Or you can connect it to VESC tool and flash it using normal USB flashing procedure

Are you saying to keep the FOCBOX on 2.18 and setup using BLDC tool? vs connecting to Acmaniac tool and upgrading firmware by USB? It sounds like you are referring to a 3rd tool that I haven’t heard or when you say VESC tool. Even on version 2.18 using BLDC the FOCBOX disconnected after a few minutes and needs to be power cycled in order to connect to the computer by USB again…

@RHill051 Let me clarify By default, FOCBOX comes with 2.18 FW which works with BLDC Tool only. You flashed it to FW 3.1 to make it work with VESC tool Ackmaniac Version You used this link: https://github.com/Ackmaniac/vesc_tool/tree/master/res/firmwares/410_o_411_o_412

So all I am saying is You can program your FOCBOX by staying at the stock firmware and using BLDC tool Or you can flash that Achmaniac firmware again on it to make it work with VESC tool The choice is yours.

For that disconnection, Let me know the length of your MicroUSB wire

So I decided to try to input some of the settings using BLDC just to see if I get some different results and it looks like when I click on “Start Detection” the motor actually spins up however it does not print any results to the adjacent window. Any advice on how to get the detect to work? btw HUGE thanks for helping out!! I honestly thought I was never going to see progress lol

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If you are on Windows or MAC, Please download team viewer on your PC/Machine (Don’t worry it’s free) And Inbox me your ID and password. I would love to check it myself :slight_smile:

ok I’m on it give me a min or two

Take your time

Problemo Solved :slight_smile:

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Cool! So what was the problem exactly and how to fix it? The FOCBOX is now in working order?

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Ok, So first I want to give a huge thanks to @CarlCollins!! The man is awesome!! He took the time to screen share with me and identify what the issues were. I know that a huge part of my problems were coming from the fact that I did not have the correct drivers on my computer to communicate with the FOCBOC and that was causing it to disconnect after a few minutes. I also speculate that it was part of the reason I was unable to write anything to the focbox over USB. Second we tried using a shorter cable. (or maybe just a different cable in general because the one that ended up working was probably 4 foot instead of 5 foot in length). Next I think following these steps also helped get things going in the right direction again. Without haveing tested just the USB scenario I don’t know if I would have had to do this or not but these are the steps followed and it worked for Carl and I.

I was having some issues with the motor detect process and Carl did something to get that to work but I totally missed it since he was working pretty fast. @CarlCollins could you elaborate on what you did to get the motor detect to work?

P.S. In case someone else is having issues I would advice you to take caution when trying to flash numerous times using ST Link. According to Carl that can burn up the DRV chip if done several times in a short period of time. I think he said something like 15 times in a 10-20 min time period would be dangerous (lucky I didn’t fry the chip 2 nights ago haha) I’d be happy to elaborate more on a specific area if it would help someone so please don’t hesitat to ask. But for now remote is connected and the motor responds as you would expect.

I guess that means at some point soon I’ll have to start figuring out how to set up the board for the “hybrid” configuration using FOC at low eRPM and DLBC at high eRPM like how @mmaner has mentioned he uses. But in the mean time I still haven’t been able to go tide the board because of the rain we’ve been getting. I’ve never hated the weather as much as I have since I got my board working a couple weeks ago hahaha

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@RHill051 Thank you so much man! Glad to help For the motor configuration part, I’ve done the following I reduced Motor Max to 50A from 60A Reduced Batt Max from 60A to 30A and Batt Min to -12 from -60

selected the motor type to BLDC and perform detection. After that, I adjusted the Pulse of Remote as per the remote type>

I hope this helps

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i know you said the issue was solved, but if anyone else has this issue, heres another thread sort of like it?

So technically the board works (sort of)¹ but I was trying to update the firmware using both the Ackmaniac tool and the VESC tool but it fails to flash… I created another thread https://www.electric-skateboard.builders/t/trouble-flashing-updated-firmware-on-focbox/71011 to try and get some more advice on how to get the firmware updated.

¹ So I was riding the board this evening and all of a sudden the motor cut out… It didn’t completely die, it was moving really slowly but then after a few seconds it came back to normal. Not sure what was going on. I’m afraid to try riding again lol